Random interrogation and possible fluff-ideas for cultural atl;
an obscure point of history to me is the languages portrait of pre-Islam maghreb - Libya, Tunisia, Morrocco, Algeria, around... And pertaining to it, how it would evolves if Islam never existed at all, or never came to the region (early).
I presumes Berber familly languages like Kabyle thrived, or better before Islam and it's importance focus on Arabic came (or so berber nationalism seems to point at). Punic, the 'dialect' (?) of Phoenician semitic language of Carthage, was still alive in early Christian era, I heard, probably limited to modern Tunisia.
But I have no idea HOW important had been the Latinification of the region/provinces - was Latin known well? By who - scholars and official only, a lingua franca of the elite, or the people knew it well?
And did the Vandals brought their Germanic language (Gothic branch?), did it thrive or even survive the short lived kingdom?
And was there other languages, like Greek, some Egyptian?
I wonder then, as well according to those meager question... what would be the linguistic milieux of a pagan-christian Maghreb?
Would Berber languages be rulling? A Maghrebian/Punic Romance language would appears? Punic survive?